Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.
Some phobias have weird names, arachnophobia (fear of spiders) or brontophobia (fear of thunderstorms).
Captains have picked their teams. Balls made of rubber or foam have been passed. Now it is time to play the game that some students love and other students dread.
Of course, we're talking about the game of dodgeball.
Students have played dodgeball in gym for many years. Few people used to think twice about it. Now, dodgeball has come under fire.
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education does not support dodgeball. The group thinks the game should not be played in physical education (PE) classes. In recent years, some schools have banned dodgeball because it is too risky. They also think it allows some students to be bullies. Dodgeball has its critics. It also has its fans. Many students think it is fun. Some teachers think it is good exercise for students.
Where do you stand on dodgeball? Read the debate. Then make your call.
Dodgeball has caused trouble in PE classes for many years. Schools should ban the game once and for all.
PE classes are meant to improve the health of students. Dodgeball is not always a very active game. Most players only step away from thrown balls. Some players hide behind other players. That does little to help students get fit. Students should play more active games such as basketball and soccer.
In some schools, dodgeball is called killerball. It's a violent game. When thrown hard, the rubber balls can sting. The balls can cause bruises and bad scrapes. Students should not play a game in which something is hurled at their bodies on purpose.
Dodgeball enables bullying. Bullies openly pick on some students. Sometimes bullies continue to tease other students after the game has ended.
One role of schools is to keep students safe. Playing dodgeball can strike fear into some students.
Dodgeball is a mean and risky game. It has no place in schools.
Dodgeball is a part of many PE classes. Students have enjoyed playing the game for many years. There is no reason to ban it now.
Dodgeball is good for students. It helps them improve physical skills. It also teaches students about teamwork.
Studies show that young people are not as fit as they should be. But active games like dodgeball help students work up a sweat.
In dodgeball, players make short sprints. They run from thrown balls. Students also run to get loose balls. Throwing the balls helps students build strong arms.
Some people say that dodgeball is risky. All PE games and sports have risks. Dodgeball is no different. Still, it has become safer. Many schools make students wear eye gear and use soft foam balls.
Teachers make sure that students play dodgeball fairly. They also keep an eye out for bullies who might try to spoil the game. Rough players are often taken out of games.
Dodgeball is a fun game that is a good activity for students. Schools should continue to let students play dodgeball.
Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.
Physical education classes are meant to improve the health of students, dodgeball does little to help students get fit.
Tamara opened her eyes and jumped out of bed. Most days she hated getting up early. But today was different. Today Tamara was wide awake and excited. Today her family was going on a hike. This was Tamara’s first hike. She pulled on her new shoes and tied the laces. Tamara’s mother had bought the new shoes just for the hike. They were brown boots. The bottoms of the boots were made of rubber and had curves to help Tamara walk on rocky ground. Tamara put on pants, a shirt, and a big jacket. She was ready to go hiking.
“Tamara,” her mother called. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am!” Tamara said.
Tamara ran down the stairs. Her mother and older brother James were there at the bottom. They were all wearing new boots like Tamara’s. James was hopping up and down impatiently. Everyone was ready for the hike.
Tamara’s family got into the car. They drove for two hours until they were far away from the city. Once they left the city and the suburbs, there weren’t many buildings beside the road. Instead there were trees and fields. Tamara saw herds of cows chewing on grass. The road climbed up. They were driving into the mountains. Tamara rolled down her window. The air was cool, and she liked it. It smelled like leaves and flowers. Soon, Tamara’s mother parked the car.
“Are we here? Is this the hike?” asked Tamara.
“Yes,” said James. “See that trail? That’s where we’ll start hiking.” James had hiked this trail before, and it was one of his favorites.
Tamara looked at the trail. It was a dirt path and went into the forest. Tall trees and tiny flowers lined both sides of the path. Tamara, her mother, and her brother began to walk. Butterflies and bumblebees flew over the flowers. At first the bees made Tamara nervous, but soon she saw that they were more interested in the flowers than they were in her.
Tamara’s mother talked about the other times the family had gone hiking. James talked about the time he went camping with the Boy Scouts. Tamara wanted to talk, but she felt out of breath. The trail was steep. They had been walking uphill for an hour by now. Tamara took hold of her mother’s hand. “I’m tired,” she said.
“Come on, Tamara,” said her brother. “You can do it! You’re ten years old. That’s old enough to hike.”
Tamara kept going. If her brother said she could do it, Tamara knew she could. James never lied. They kept walking uphill. Tamara looked around at the plants to keep her mind off of how tired she felt. There was green everywhere. There were trees with long draping leaves that Tamara had never seen before. She saw a small and furry rabbit by the side of the trail. Tamara gasped with surprise, and the rabbit ran away at the sound.
“Look, Tamara!” her brother called suddenly. The trail had ended. Tamara and her family were at a pool at the bottom of a waterfall. Tamara looked up at the water rushing down at the fish swimming in the pool. Her mother sat on a rock at the edge of the pool and began to unpack their picnic. There were peanut butter and banana sandwiches, baby carrots, and chocolate chip cookies. Tamara took off her boots and sat on the edge of the rock. As she bit into her sandwich, she dipped her toes into the cool water. “Congratulations, Tamara!” said her mother. “You just finished your first hike!” Tamara smiled. She decided that she liked hiking.
Darla jumped when the "ghost" popped out of the bushes. "I can't believe I'm scared!" she thought, heart pounding. "It's Halloween! That's just someone dressed up like a ghost!"
Everyone gets scared sometimes. It's a normal reaction. You need that reaction to survive. When faced with a threat, it's useful to be afraid and get out of the way so that you won't get hurt.
You can also learn fears through experience. Greg, for example, once fell off a ladder. After that, he was afraid to climb a ladder. He finally realized all he had to do was be careful when using one.
As you get older, you may outgrow some fears. Maybe you used to be afraid of the dark or of spiders. Different people are afraid of different things over time.
Fears can be mild or severe. Mild fear just makes you feel slightly nervous. But intense fear can make you sweat. Your heart may beat faster. You may even have trouble breathing.
Sometimes fear becomes extreme and unreasonable. This is known as a phobia. Phobias are fears that make people feel out of control. Sometimes people with phobias feel sick. Some of them get headaches, high blood pressure, ulcers, skin rashes, nausea, or other medical problems.
Doctors believe that most of these phobias, like Greg's, are learned. But in some cases, a phobia follows an unrelated trauma, such as a death in the family. And the tendency to develop some phobias may run in families.
Phobias can be about things, activities, or situations. For example, people can have phobias about cats, storms, or heights. These are called specific phobias.
Other people may be afraid of going to parties or being with other people because they think they would feel judged, embarrassed, rejected, or scared of offending people. Such a phobia is known as social anxiety disorder, or social phobia. Tess, for instance, would not play with other kids. And she sweated, blushed, and stammered if she had to speak in school.
Still other people have a type of phobia called a panic disorder. They suddenly feel very frightened for no reason. They may sweat, tremble, faint, have trouble breathing, or get very sick. Worst of all, they never know when a panic attack will strike.
Phobias often have weird names. Some examples are arachnophobia (fear of spiders), brontophobia (fear of thunderstorms), claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), myxophobia (fear of slime), and arachibutyrophobia (fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth).
If a phobia interferes with daily life, it's time to do something about it. Psychologists have several suggestions for dealing with phobias.
Talk about the phobia with someone you trust.
Breathe deeply, and try to relax when you think about the thing you fear.
Try to visualize what you fear to lessen the phobia.
Try to think positive thoughts. Replace "I'm so scared" with "I'm going to be OK."
Slowly count to 10. Tell yourself you will be all right when you reach 10.
If these things don't help, see your doctor. He or she may refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist. These experts can help you learn to overcome a phobia. Sometimes they use a method called systematic desensitization (sis-tuh-MAT-ik dee-sens-ih-tuh-ZAY-shun). This involves getting used to something one step at a time. Hannah saw a psychologist about her fear of dogs. The psychologist had her face her fear in stages. First, Hannah relaxed. Then, she imagined she was near a friendly dog. Third, she looked at pictures of dogs. Finally, she went up to a real dog and patted its head.
Another useful technique is virtual reality exposure. Carl overcame his fear of flying this way. He sat in a computer-controlled "virtual plane" that never left the ground. He "experienced" takeoffs, landings, and flying in all kinds of weather.
It's important to realize that phobias can be treated. "Most people who seek treatment completely overcome their fears for life," according to the American Psychiatric Association. This is true even if your fears are worse than the usual Halloween jitters.
What is a phobia?
One problem mentioned in the passage is that some people cannot get over their phobias on their own.
What is a solution to this problem?
Fear is not always a bad thing.
What evidence from the text supports this conclusion?
How can the treatment options for people with phobias be described?
What is the main idea of this passage?
Read these sentences from the text.
"Doctors believe that most of these phobias, like Greg’s, are learned. But in some cases, a phobia follows an unrelated trauma, such as a death in the family."
As used in the passage, what does the word "trauma" mean?
When Peter's father told him that they were moving to a new town on the other side of the country, Peter felt a mix of things inside him. He was happy for the new adventure but sad to leave his friends behind. He was excited for the new things he would see and learn but scared about what he might forget, or miss, about home. It was hard to say how he felt about it.
"Why are we moving?" Peter asked his mom at dinner the next day, after he came home from school.
"Ask your father," his mother said, looking down at her plate. Peter was surprised at how slowly his mom was eating her food. She was pushing her vegetables from one side of the plate to the other, behaving the way Peter used to when he was a little boy!
Peter's dad clattered his knife and fork onto the plate and wiped his mouth slowly with a napkin. "We're moving, Peter, because I got a better job in the new town. That means a better life for all of us."
Peter thought about this. "Better life how? What's wrong with our life now?"
"There's nothing wrong with it," his father said. "But I will make more money at the new job, and that will allow us to have a bigger house, go on more vacations, and buy a second car for your mother to use."
"Vacations like Disney World?" Peter asked.
"Yes! Like Disney World! We'll be living a lot closer to Disney World. We could go there all the time, Peter!"
Peter suddenly had an urge to eat all of his vegetables, and his mother's too, since she was taking so long to get to them. Going to Disney World was better than eating dessert every day. What fun they would have!
Two weeks later, Peter and his parents watched the last pieces of furniture get loaded into the enormous truck. Someone was going to drive the truck all the way to their new address, while Peter and his parents would travel in their own car. When the car was finally packed up, Peter waved farewell to his friends on their street for the last time. He promised to keep in touch and to send postcards from the new place, and from Disney World. Then Peter and his parents got in the car and stopped one last time at Peter’s favorite spot, the pond, to say goodbye. His mom and dad walked around the pond like they always did. While Peter was looking for fish in the water, he looked up to see some tears stream down his mom’s face. After a while, they all got back in the car. And then they were off.
The new town was much larger and more sprawled out than where they had lived before. Peter wasn't able to walk to school anymore, so he hadn't made friends with his neighbors yet. His dad left for work before Peter woke up and came home after Peter went to bed, so Peter only saw him on the weekends. Peter’s mom stayed quiet. And there was no mention of Disney World for a long time. Peter felt sad.
Then, one Saturday morning, Peter woke up and saw a car missing. Where had his father gone so early in the morning? Peter waited in the driveway until the car returned, his dad's face beaming from inside. His father jumped out and waved at Peter.
"Where have you been?" Peter asked.
"Getting you a present for having been such a good boy these past few weeks. Do you remember the pond near where we used to live?"
"Yes," Peter said. "It was my favorite spot."
"Well, I discovered one just like it, only bigger and more beautiful, right here. And you know what? It's crawling with all kinds of fish!"
"So?" Peter said, thinking of Disney World.
"So! You're old enough now to take a shot at some fishing, young man!" Peter's dad pulled a shiny new fishing rod out of the backseat.
"Wow! Really, Dad?" Peter shouted.
"Absolutely! Go tell your mother, and let's go on our first fishing trip!"
Peter rushed into the house and gave his mom a big hug. Peter rushed back outside, and his dad took him to the pond to teach him how to fish. It took a few weeks to get the hang of the fishing rod, but soon Peter was fishing at the pond every week. His mom and dad liked to walk around the new pond just as they had walked around the old one. His mom said it was even more beautiful than the old pond. The new pond was Peter’s new favorite spot.
What did Peter promise his friends before moving?
Why is Peter's family moving to a new town?
What did Peter's dad say the new job would provide?
What did Peter think about during dinner?
What did Peter discover about the new pond?
What gift did Peter's dad bring him?
How often did Peter go fishing once he learned?
What sport has come under fire after having been played in physical education classes for many years?
The author presents two sides of an argument in the passage. One side thinks dodgeball should be banned in schools. What does the other side think?
Supporters of banning dodgeball in schools argue that it does little to help students get fit. What evidence from the text supports their argument?
Supporters of keeping dodgeball in schools argue that it helps improve physical skills.
What evidence from the text supports their argument?
What is the main idea of this passage?
Read these sentences from the text.
"In some schools, dodgeball is called killerball. It's a violent game. When thrown hard, the rubber balls can sting. The balls can cause bruises and bad scrapes.
[...]
"Dodgeball enables bullying. Bullies openly pick on some students. Sometimes bullies continue to tease other students after the game has ended.
"One role of schools is to keep students safe. Playing dodgeball can strike fear into some students."
What does the phrase "strike fear into" in the last sentence mean in this excerpt?
While Tamara is hiking up the trail, she looks around at all of the different plants. What motivates this action?
Tamara is able to experience new things on the hike. What information from the passage best supports this conclusion?
Read the following sentences: “If her brother said she could do it, Tamara knew she could. James never lied.” Based on this information, how does Tamara feel about her brother?
What is this story mostly about?
Read the following sentences:
“She saw a small and furry rabbit by the side of the trail. Tamara gasped with surprise, and the rabbit ran away at the sound.”
As used in this sentence, what does the word “gasped” most nearly mean?